Reclining chair



Jan. 29, 1957 E. M. KNABUSCH EI'AL 2,779,391

RECLINING CHAIR 6 Sheets -Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 10, 1953 1957 E. M.KNABUSCH ETAL 2,779,391

RECLINING CHAIR 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 10, 1953 E. M. KNABUSCH .ETAL 2,779,391

Jan. 29, 1957 RECLINING CHAIR 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 10, 1953 Jan.29, 1957 E. M. KNABUSCH ETAL 2,779,391

RECLINING CHAIR 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 10. 1953 E. M. KNABUSCH .ETAL 2,779,391

Jan. 29, 1957 RECLINING CHAIR 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed NOV. 10, 1953 Jan.29, 1957 E. M. KNABUSCH ETAL RECLINING CHAIR 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed NOV.10, 1953 United States Patent RECLINING CHAIR Edward M. Knabnsch andEdwin J. Shoemaker, Monroe, Mich assignors to La-Z-Boy Chair Company,Monroe, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application November 10, 1953,Serial No. 391,182

9 Claims. (Cl. 155-406) This invention relates generally to chairs andmore particularly to reclining chairs of the type illustrated inapplicants copending patent application for Reclining Chair, Serial No.342,336, filed March 16, 1953.

The chair illustrated in the aforementioned copending patent applicationis of the type in which the chair seat and back are pivotally supportedon a base and counterbalanced so that by leaning back in the chair auser may move the chair back downwardly and forwardly and the chair seatforwardly and upwardly, simultaneously, into a reclining position, andso that by sitting up in the seat the user can return the chair to itsupright sitting position. A leg or foot rest is supported adjacent thefront edge of the chair seat, which is actuatable with the chair seatand back so that when the chair is moved to its reclining position thefoot rest will be raised to a generally horizontal position and when thechair is moved to its upright or sitting position the foot rest willmove to a generally vertical inoperative position wherein it will appearas the lower front part of the chair. While applicants aforementionedpatent application illustrated a leg rest structure wherein the legres-t could be manually raised or lowered when the chair was in itsfully upright position, it has been found that chair users may wish theleg rest fully raised when the chair is not fully reclined or may wishthe leg rest in varying raised positions, irrespective of the positionof the chair seat and back.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a reclining chairof the aforementioned type, in which the leg rest may be supported in afully or partially raised position, irrespective of the position of thechair seat and back members.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a chair of theaforementioned type in which the user may selectively raise and lowerthe leg rest with movement of the chair seat and back members, or inwhich the user may raise the leg rest to a desired position andthereafter move the chair seat and back members without affecting theposition of the leg rest.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a chair of theaforementioned type in which the leg rest may be released for movementwith the chair seat and back by the user fully reclining the chair.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a novelautomatic leg rest actuating supporting and releasiug mechanisminterconnected with the chair seat and back supporting mechanisms, so asto be automatically actuatable in accordance with the manner in whichthe user positions the chair seat and back members.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a chair of theaforementioned type, which is properly balanced so that the chair seat,back and leg rest members can be easily actuated in accordance with themanner in which the user distributes his weight thereon.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an It is astill further object of this invention to provide a reclining chair ofthe aforementioned type, which is attractive in appearance, quiet inoperation, and durable in use.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a chair of this invention in itsupright or sitting position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the chair of this invention, partlyin section and partly in elevation with the seat and back cushionsremoved for purposes of clarity, and illustrating the chair in itsupright or sitting position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the chair seat, back and leg restsupporting and actuating mechanisms, as well as the adjacent chairportions on one side of the chair;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating thechair in a partially reclined position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side view similar to Figs. 2 and 4, illustratingthe chair in its fully reclined position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side view of the chair partly in section andpartly in elevation illustrating the leg rest in its inoperative orupright position in solid lines and in a partially raised position indot dash lines, with the chair seat and back members being in theirupright or sitting positions, for both positions of the leg rest.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 3, taken along the line 77 thereof; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 3, taken along the line 88 thereof; and

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7, illustrating a still different latcharrangement; Fig. 10 is a. View partially in section and partially inelevation of the structure illustrated in Fig. 8, taken along the lineIll-10 thereof; Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of thestructure illustrated in Fig. 2, taken along the line 11-11 thereof; andFig. 12 is a fragmentary side View of the chair of this inventionillustrated in Fig. 2, partially in section and partially in elevation,with the majority of the upholstery and operating linkage removed forpurposes of clarity so as to illustrate a chair frame more clearly.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that the chair includes astationary wooden base or body structure, 13 having arms 15 on oppositesides thereof, front vertical leg portions 17 connected with the frontof the arms, rear vertical leg members 19 connected with the back of thearms, a horizontally extending frame member 21 interconnecting thevertical back members 19, and side board or frame members 23 extendingbetween the front and back vertical members 17 and 19 below the arms 15.Suitable braces and corner members are provided for interconnecting theaforementioned frame members rigidly to provide a strong chair framestructure. A channel shaped metal bar 25 extends horizontally betweenthe side members 23 and is rigidly connected therewith.

A generally rectangular chair seat frame 27 is movably supported on thechair body 13, as is a chair back frame 29 and a leg rest frame 31. As:can be best seen in Fig. 1, the chair body 13 is upholstered and a seatcushion 33 is carried by the seat frame 27 while a back cushion 35 iscarried by the seat back frame 2%. Likewise, a leg rest upholsteredcushion 37 is carried by the leg rest frame 31. Thus the chair in itsfinished form is completely upholstered. The chair seat, back and legrest are all movably supported on the chair body. This is accomplishedby means of a fixture 39 on each side of the chair and by means of a legrest supporting mechanism 40 extending fore and aft of the chairintermediate the sides thereof and connected with the seat frame and legrest frame, as will be more fully brought out in detail.

Each fiXture39 includes a parallelogram linkage structure for supportingthe chair seat frame 27 on the chair body 13. This structure includes apair of parallel, generally vertically extending links 41 and 43, whichare pivotally connected at their upper ends at A and 4-7 respectively toa horizontally extending bar 49, which is rigidly connected with thechair body sideframe member 23. The lower ends of links 41 and 43 arepivotally connected at 51 and 53 to a lower rigid bar 55, which in turnis connected to a wooden bar 57 rigidly connected with the sides of thechair seat frame 27. The links 41 and 43', in conjunction with the upperand lower bars 49 and 55, therefore define a parallelogram type linkagefor supporting the chair seat frame on the chair body. It should benoted that when the chair is in the upright position, as shown in Fig;2, the links 41 and 43 extend downwardly and somewhat forwardly fromtheir pivots and 47, for a reason which will hereinafter appear.

The chair back frame 29 is pivotally supported on the parallelogram seatlinkage through a plurality of links and pivotal connections. A rigidstr'aplike bar 59 is rigidly connected with a vertical side frameportion of the back frame, adjacent the lower end thereof, and isprovided intermediate the ends thereof with a laterally projecting pin Asecond straplike link or bar 63 has its upper end slotted or recessed at65 to receive the pin 63., while the lower end of the link 59' isconnected to the link 63 by a cap screw 67 so that the bars or links 59and 63 function as a single link but are separable to permit the chairback to be disassembled from the chair seat when the chair is shipped.An elongated arm 71 has its rear end pivotally connected to link 63 at75, just above the bottom of the back frame 29. The forward end of link71 is pivotally connected at 76 to the lower end of a verticallyextending link 77, the upper end of which is pivoted at 45 to the rigidbar 49. A short link 79 is connected with the pivots 76 and 51 tooperatively connect the arm 71 with the parallelogram linkage. The arm77 is provided with a projection or lanced stop 81, which is adapted toabut the upper edge of the arm 71 when the chair is in its fullyreclined position, to limit the amount of reclining movement of thechair. A similar stop 83 is provided on the bar 49 for engagingparallelogram link 43 to limit the reclining movement of the chair.

A link 87 has its lower end pivotally connected to the back end of therigid bar 49 below the chair back, and its upper end pivotally connectedat with the link 63, so as to connect the chair back frame 29 with thechair base or body frame 13. A link 89 operatively connects the link 63with the parallelogram seat linkage and is therefore pivotally connectedat its lower end to pivot 53 and at its upper end is pivotally connectedat 91 to link 63 adjacent to but spaced from the lower end thereof. Theaforesaid fixture structure on each side of the chair seat frame 27permits the seat frame and the back frame to be moved between an uprightor sitting position and a reclining position. As the chair seat frame 27moves forwardly, it likewise moves up wardly, due to the parallelogramlinkage support, and the back frame 29 fulcrums about the movable pivots'75 and 91, the latter of which moves forwardly and up wardly and theformer of which moves forwardly and downwardly. Thus, the chair backframe does not pivot about fixed points, but pivots about the forwardlymoving pivots 75 and 91 so that the lower end of the chair back framemoves forwardly and downwardly as the chair seat frame moves forwardlyand upwardly. Therefore, the bottom edge of the chair back cushion 35moves toward the back edge of the chair seat cushion 33, therebymaintaining a proper relationship at all times between the chair backand seat to properly support the user in all chair positions, withoutcausing the users back to slide relative to the chair back, which wouldbe undesirable and would cause bunching of the users clothing, as wellas other uncomfortable effects.

The lower end of the link 63 is curved or bent so that, when the chairis in its upright or sitting position, the extreme rear end 93 of thelink 63 is disposed below and rearwardly of pivot 91. Elongated arm orlink means 95, in the form of a front link or arm 97 and a rear link orarm 99, which have adjacent overlapping end portions, and are movable orslidable relative to each other fore and aft, is provided between thechair back, the linkage to the seat and theleg rest frame; The rear arm99 is pivotally connected at 100 to the rear end 93 of link 63 andextends angularly forwardly and upwardly therefrom. The forward end ofthe arm 97 is bent so as to provide an arm portion 101, extendingangularly from the remainder of the arm and the extreme forward endthereof is pivotally connected at 1% to the back or upper end of alink165. The opposite end of link is pivotally connected at 107 to ashort link 199 which extends adjacent one side of the foot or leg restand at substantially right angles thereto, and has its upper or forwardend pivotally connected at 111 to an L-shaped bracket 113 which isrigidly connected with the foot rest frame 31 by any suitable means. Alink 1.15 has one end thereof pivotally connected at 117 to the bracketI13 and the opposite end thereof pivotally connected to the lower orforward end of a link 1119 at 120. The upper or back end of link 119 ispivotally connected to a bracket 121, which is rigidly connected to awooden member of the chair seat frame adjacent the front thereof. Link119 is pivotally connected in termediate the ends thereof, at 123 to thefront arm 97 of the arm means 95'. Link is pivotally connected at 125intermediate its ends, to link 105 so that the outer portion of link105, link 109, bracket 113, and the outer end of link 115 constitute aparallelogram linkage in conjunction with a second substantially paralelogram linkage provided by the inner end of link 3165, the back orlower end of link 115, the forward end of arm 97 and the lower orforward end of link 119. Thus, when link means 95 is moved forwardly,due to the chair seat and back members being reclined, as will behereiuafter described in detail, the parallelogram linkage adjacent thefoot rest frame will swing the leg rest frame outwardly and forwardlyrelative to the chair seat, to properly accommodate the legs of theuser. The front and rear arm members 97 and 99 of arm means 95 are heldin their overlapping, slidable relationship by means of bands orstraplike members 129, and the front arm 97 has a lanced abutment orstop 131 thereon, against which the front end of the back arm 99 isadapted to abut so that forward movement of the back arm 99 will cause asimilar movement of the front arm 97 when the back arm is in engagementwith the abutment 131, but a lost motion connection is provided betweenthe chair and seatback supporting linkage and the leg rest frame throughthe telescopic or sliding relationship of arms 97 and 99, as will bebrought out more fully hereinafter.-

When the chair is in the upright position illustrated in. Figs. 1 and2,. and moves toward its reclined position, the leg rest moves upwardlyand forwardly at an accelerated rate, due to the fact that the pivot 1%between the rear end of link 63 and the rear end of the back arm 99moves through an are about pivot 91 and is disposed forwardly of pivot91- when the chair is fully reclined. This movement causes the leg restto move forwardly at a faster rate than the chair seat and at the sametime, due to the pivotal linkage connection between the leg rest frame,the seat frame 27, and the fixture 39, the leg rest is carried forwardlyrelative to the chair seat frame. Thus, the leg rest not only is quicklyraised when the chair is reclined, but it moves forwardly to properlyclear the upholstered base and provide a rest for supporting manner theusers feet and legs in a comfortable manner. When the seat is fullyreclined, the leg rest is disposed above the chair seat frame and aboveor in substantial alignment with the back or top of the chair back, soas to provide a contoured chair which will properly support the usersbody.

Although in a reclining chair of this type it is desirable that the userbe able to easily control the chair position, while sitting in thechair, the chair also should be usable as an ordinary sitting chair andshould not, therefore, recline except when desired. When the chair is inits upright position, the parallelogram fixture links 41 and 43 extendangularly downwardly so that the weight of the user thereon tends torotate the lower ends of the links rearwardly and retain the chair inits upright position. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the chairback operating linkage is connected with the chair back frame 29,adjacent to but somewhat above thebottom thereof, pressure applied bythe lower portion of the users back, against the lower portion of thechair back, as is normal when a person is sitting in a chair, will nottend to pivot the chair back toward its reclining position. However, ifthe upper portion of the users back is pressed against the upper portionof the chair back, a substantial leverage action is obtained, and whenthe weight is so applied to the chair back, the users weight on thechair seat and the parallelogram links 41 and 43 is reduced so that thechair will easily move to its reclining position or any position betweenits upright and fully reclined position. Thus, the fixtures 39 on eachside of the chair are comprised of a plurality of links which arepivotally interconnected in the manner illustrated, to properly balancethe chair and permit its comfortable use in any position. Furthermore,due to the position and arrangement of the links and pivots, as broughtout, the position of the chair may be easily varied, even though theusers legs and feet are supported on the leg rest.

As has been previously pointed out, one of the features of this chair isthat the leg rest may be raised to a desired position and willthereafter remain in the raised position even though the chair isreturned to an upright position, if the user so desires, as illustratedin Fig. 6. In order to support the leg rest in this manner, a leg restsupporting mechanism is provided and is best illustrated in Figs. 3, 6and 8. As can be clearly seen therein, an elongated rod 135 extends foreand aft of the chair body 13 below the chair frame 27 and intermediatethe side frame members 23. The rear end of the rod 135 is anchored to abracket 137, which in turn is fixedly connected to the back of the chairseat frame 27 by any suitable means. The front end of the rod 135 isconnected to the front cross member of the chair seat frame. It will benoted that the rear portion of the rod 135 is reduced in diameter at139, for a reason which will hereinafter appear. A cylinder or slide 141is slidably supported on the rod 135. The cylinder or slide 141 isdivided into two separate halves or parts 143 and 145, the adjacent endsof which are spaced apart to provide a space 147 therebetween. It willbe noted from Fig. 8 that the back face 149 of the cylinder part 143 iscut at an angle so that the gap between the adjacent faces of thecylinder parts is greater at the bottom than at the top. The cylindersare locked or interconnected relative to each other by means of a pivotbracket 151, which is disposed on the upper side of the cylinder partsand connected therewith by suitable means such as Welding. Disposed inthe gap 147 between the cylinder parts is a washerlike member 153, whichmay be made of any suitable material such as metal, plastic, or thelike, and which is normally urged into engagement with the angular face149 of the front cylinder part 143, by means of a small coil spring 155,the back end of which is dis posed in a recess 157 in the front face ofthe cylinder part 145. The washerlike member 153 has a tang or dependingtab 159, which projects downwardly below the cylinder 141. Slidablydisposed on the cylinder 141 is a sleeve 161, which extends partiallyaround the cylinder 141, but has its adjacent edges spaced from eachother a sufiicient distance to permit the sleeve to slide fore and aftof the cylinder without interference with the pivot bracket 151. Theunder side of the sleeve 161 is provided with a slot 163, extendingforwardly from the back end thereof, through which the: tang 159 of thewasher member 153 extends. When the chair is in its upright position,such as illustrated in solid lines in Fig. 6, the back end of thecylinder 141 and the back of sleeve 161 will be in engagement with thebracket member 137,

.which acts as an abutment and positions the sleeve 161 in its forwardposition on cylinder 141, illustrated in Fig. 8, wherein the washermember 153 will be disposed in an angular or cocked relationshiprelative to the rod and in engagement with the angular face 149 on thecylinder part 143.

A link 167 is pivotally connected to the pivot bracket 151 on cylinder141, and the forward end of the link 167 is pivotally connected to abracket 169 connected to the under or back side of the leg rest frame31, intermediate the side edges thereof. When the chair seat and backframes are reclined from the position illustrated in Fig. 1, the linkmeans will move forwardly because of the engagement of the rear link orarm 99 with the lanced abutment 131 on the front link or arm 97, so asto swing the leg rest upwardly. The upward move ment of the leg restwill cause the cylinder 141 to slide forwardly along rod and after thewasher member 153 has moved forwardly of the reduced rod portion 139,the leg rest will be held against downward movement, even if the seatand back are moved to their upright position. This results from the factthat the diameter of the aperture in the washer 153 is just slightlylarger than the diameter of the enlarged portion of the rod 135.Therefore, when the Washer is angularly disposed it will bite into therod and prevent rearward movement of the cylinder on the rod. However,as the washer aperture is considerably larger than the diameter of thereduced rod portion 139, the washer Will not bite into this portion ofthe rod even if it is angularly disposed or cocked. Thus, when thewasher is in its angular or cooked position it will not be free to sliderearwardly relative to the rod enlarged portion and will therefore lockthe cylinder against rearward movement on the rod. Therefore, the legrest can be retained in any desired elevated position, even though thechair seat and back return to their upright position. The telescopic orsliding relationship between the arms 99 and 97 of the arm or link means95 will permit the chair seat and back to move to their upright positionwithout affecting the position of the leg rest, and the cylinder andwasher member will support the leg rest in :a desired position relativeto the chair seat.

When it is desired to release the legrest to cause the same to move backto its vertical inoperative position, the chair is fully reclined andthe sleeve 161 on the cylindrical slide 141 will, when the chair issubstantially fully reclined, strike an abutment washer 171 disposed onrod 135, adacent the front thereof. The abutment Washer 171 is backed bya spring 173, so as to cushion the forward movement of the cylinder andsleeve, but when the sleeve strikes the abutment and at least partiallycompresses the spring, the sleeve will be moved rearwardly on thecylindrical slide and the wall defining the forward end of the sleeveslot 163 will engage the tang 159 of the washer member to move thebottom of the washer member rearwardly against spring and into asubstantially vertical or perpendicular position relative to the axis ofthe rod 135. The sleeve due to frictional engagement with the cylinderwill retain the washer in this position in spite of the action of thespring 155 and when the seat and back are moved toward their up rightposition the cylinder 141 will merely slide on the rod and the leg restwill be no longer supported so that it will swing downwardly toward itsupright position. When the chair reaches its fully upright position, thesleeve in}; strikes the bracket 173 and is moved forwardly relative tothe cylinder slide 141 so that the washer member 153 returns to itscocked or angular position, as previously described.

When the leg rest is in a substantially raised position and thesupporting cylinder released, it will move by the force of gravitydownwardly toward its vertical, inoperativtposition, as the chair seatand backare moved to their upright position. However, in order to insurethat the leg rest will moveto a fully vertical and inoperative positionbetween thefront legs 17 of the chair, so as to appear as an integralpart of the chair and as the front wall thereof, a latch 181 has beenformed on the back of the front arm or link 97 of each fixture 39. Thelatch 181 is in the form of an upwardly curved or bent portion on theend of the arm, which provides a shoulder 163:, which is adapted to beengaged by a pin T135 projecting from and carried by the lower curvedend of the link 63. It will be noted that as the chair is reclined thepin 185 moves upwardly out of the path of the latch 181 and the lattermoves forwardly of the pin and underneath the same. However, when theseat and back are moved toward their upright position, the shoulder 123of the latch moves downwardly and behind the pin M55 and as the pinmoves downwardly and rearwardly it engages the shoulder 183 which, beinga part of the front link or arm 97, pulls the leg rest to its fullyvertical and inoperative position as the chair seat and back are movedto theirfully upright position. The reduced diameter portion 139 or therod 135 extends forwardly from the back end thereof far enough such thatthe 153 cannot bind or lock on the rod until the shoulder 183 of thelatch 181 has passed beneath and beyond the pin 185. That is, thecylinder slide Mi. must be free to move rearwardly of the rod 135 untilthe pin 185 and latch 181 are free for movement relative to each other,otherwise the entire chair action would bind, but once the cylinder lockand washer member have move' forwardly beyond the reduced rod portion,the pin and latch arrangement is inoperative and the leg rest can beheld in its raised position even when the chair seat and back are movedback to an upright position. Thus the pin and latch arrangementpreviously discussed insures the proper positioning of the leg rest whenit is desired to have the same in its inoperative position, but does notinterfere with retention of the leg rest in a substantially raisedposition, when desired.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 9, a spring actu ated, depressablelatch member 131' is illustrated instead of the integral latch member181, formed on the end of arm or link 97, as in the previous embodiment.The latch member 181 is pivotally supported on link 97 at Edi. and has ashoulder 183' formed on the front face thereof which is adapted toengage pin 185 carried by link es, as previously described. A spring26-3 resiliently urges the front end of the latch member 181 upwardly,about pivot 281 and a projection 205 adjacent the bottom of the latchmember engages a stop 207 on link 97, to limit the upward movementthereof. When the chair and leg rest are in their upright positions thepin 135 is in en gagement with shoulder 183 and has depressed or pushedthe latch member downwardly against the action of spring 263-, asillustrated in Fig. 9. As the chair is reclined pin 155 moves upwardlyand forwardly while the latch member passes therebeneath. Spring 2'63swings the latch member upwardly relative to link Q7 so that shoulder133 is in position to engage pill 185 when the chair and le rest aremoved toward their inoperative position as previously described. Afterthe pin 135 has engaged shoulder 18; and the link 97 moves to itsrearmost position, pin 185 depresses the latch member so that the partsare again in the position illustrated in Fig. 9. The latch member 181'performs the same function as latch member 181 and operates insubstantially the same mannet.-

It will thus be seen that the structure of this invention provides animproved reclining chair wherein the leg rest position and action can beautomatically controlled to provide the ultimate in comfort and ease ofoperation for the user,

What is claimed is: I p

1. In a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, a legrest member, mechanism between said body and each side of said membersinterconnecting said members and for supporting the same on said bodyand permitting said members to move between a reclining and uprightposition, said mechanism including structure for moving said leg restmember between a generally inoperative vertical position and a raisedgenerally horizontal position as said back and seat members move betweenan upright position and a reclined position, said structure includinglink means connected with said leg rest member and link means connectedwith said seat and back members, a lost motion connection between saidseat and back member link means and said leg rest member link means topermit said seat and back members to move from a reclining position toan upright sitting position without returning said leg rest member toits inoperative position, means connected with said leg rest member andsaid seat member for releasably supporting said leg rest member in araised position after said sea; andback members have moved to an uprightposition, and means operatively connected with said leg rest supportingmeans actuatable upon the application of pressure by a portion of ausers body against one of 0 said members to release said leg restsupporting means so that said leg rest member will return to its saidinoperative position.

2. In a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, a legrest member, mechanism between said body and each side of said membersfor supporting the same on said body and permitting said members to movebetween a reclining and a sitting position, said mechanism includingstructure for moving said leg rest member between a generallyinoperative vertical sitting position and a raised generally horizontalreclining position, when said back and seat members are moved between asitting position and a reclined position, said structure including alost motion connection permitting said seat and back members to movefrom a reclining to a sitting position without affecting a raisedposition of said leg rest member with respect to said seat member, meansconnected with said leg rest member and said seat member for supportingsaid leg rest member in a raised position after said seat and backmembers have been returned to a sitting position, said means including arelease mechanism automatically actuatable upon movement of said seatand back members to a substantially fully reclined position to permitsaid leg rest member to return to its generally inoperative positionupon movement of said seat and back members to a sitting position.

3. In a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, a legrest member, mechanism between said body and each side of said membersfor supporting the same on said body and permitting said members to movebetween a reclining and a sitting position, said mechanism includingstructure for moving said leg rest member between a generallyinoperative vertical sitting position and a raised generally horizontalreclining position, when said back and seat members are moved between asitting position and a reclined position, said structure including linkmeans connected with said leg rest member and link means connected withsaid seat and back members, a lost motion connection between said seatand back member link means and said leg rest member link i'neanspermitting said seat and back members to move from a reclining to asitting position Without affecting a raised position of said leg restmember with respect to said seat member, a rod member extending fore andaft of and connected with said seat mem ber, a link member pivotallyconnected adjacent one end thereof with said leg rest member, a memberslidable on said rod, said link member being pivotally connectedadjacent its opposite end to said slide member, means carried by saidslide member for locking the same on said rod in a predeterminedposition against rearward move ment, and means for releasing said lockmeans.

4. In a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, a legrest member, mechanism between said body and each side of said membersfor supporting the same on said body and permitting said members to movebetween a reclining and a sitting position, said mechanism includingstructure for moving said leg rest member between a generallyinoperative vertical sitting position and a raised generally horizontalreclining position, when said back and seat membersare moved between asitting position and a reclined position, said structure including alost motion connection permitting said seat and back members to movefrom a reclining to a sitting position without affecting a raisedposition of said leg rest member with respect to said seat member, a rodmember extending fore and aft of and connected with said seat member,slide means slidably supported on said rod member and having atransversely extending opening intermediate the ends thereof, one faceof which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of saidrod member and the opposing face of. which is angularly disposedrelative to said one face and to said rod member axis, a washerlikemember sleeved on said rod member and disposed in said slide meansopening and having a projection extending beyond the confines of saidslide means, resilient means engaging said washerlike member and urgingthe same against said angular face so as to cause binding of said Washermemher on said rod against rearward movement, a tubular member sleevedon said slide means and adapted to move fore and aft relative thereto,said sleeve member having an aperture therein through which theprojecting portion of said washer member extends, a link pivotallyconnected adjacent one end thereof with said leg rest member andadjacent the other end thereof with said slide means, abutment meansdisposed adjacent opposite ends of said rod member for engaging saidsleeve member and moving the same fore and aft on said slide means so asto engage said washerlike member and move the same between a cockedposition relative to said rod member and a perpendicular positionrelative to said rod member, whereby said slide means will moveforwardly along said rod member when said leg rest is moved from itsinoperative position to a raised position and when said seat and backmembers are raised to an upright position said washerlike member willlock said slide member against rearward movement on said rod member tore tain the leg rest member in its raised position, and whereby whensaid seat and back members are substantially fully reclined said sleevemember will engage one of said abutments and move relative to said slidemeans to move said washerlike member to its perpendicular position topermit said leg rest member to return to its inoperative position whensaid seat and back members return to their sitting position, and wherebywhen said seat and back members are in substantially their uprightsitting position said sleeve member will engage the opposite abutmentmember to move said sleeve member away from said washer and permit saidresilient means to again position said washer in a cocked positionrelative to said rod member for a subsequent locking operation.

5. In a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, and aleg rest member, mechanism between said body and each side of saidmembers for supporting said members on said body for movement between anupright sitting position and a reclining position, said mechanismembodying a parallelogram linkage supporting said seat member on saidbody, additional linkage pivotally connecting said seat back member tosaid body and with said parallelogram linkage so that said seat memberwill advance forwardly and upwardly as said back member Swingsdownwardly and forwardly, link means including a pair of overlapping,telescopically disposed link members, means interconnecting said seatmember, one of said link members and said leg rest memso that fore andaft movement of said one link member will cause pivotal movement of saidleg rest member between an inoperative generally vertical position and araised generally horizontal position, the other of said link membersbeing connected adjacent its back end with said seat back member, meansretaining said link memhere in an overlapping sliding relationshiprelative to each other, complementary abutments on said link membersengagcable upon forward movement of said other link member to causeforward movement of said one link member and upward swinging movement ofsaid leg rest member when said back member is reclined, whereby, aftersaid leg rest member has been raised, sliding motion between said linkmembers can occur which will move said abutments away from each otherwhen said back member returns to its upright position to permit said legrest member to remain in its raised position, means connected with saidleg rest member and said seat member for releasably supporting said legrest member in its raised position with respect to said seat memberafter said back and seat members have returned to their uprightposition, and means selectively operable to release said leg restsupporting means to permit said leg rest member to return to itsinoperative position when said back member returns to its uprightposition.

6. In a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, and aleg rest member, mechanism between said body and each side of saidmembers for supporting said members on said body for movement between anupright sitting position and a reclining position, said mechanismembodying a paralellogram linkage supporting said seat member on saidbody, additional linkage pivotally connecting said seat back member tosaid body and with said parallelogram linkage so that said seat memberwill advance forwardly and upwardly as said back member swing downwardlyand forwardly, link means including a pair of overlapping,telescopically disposed link members, means interconnecting said seatmember, one of said link members and said leg rest member so that foreand aft movement of said one link member will cause pivotal movement ofsaid leg rest member between an inoperative generally vertical positionand a raised generally horizontal position, the other of said linkmembers being connected adjacent its back end with said seat backmember, means retaining said link members in an overlapping slidingrelationship relative to each other, complementary abutment means onsaid link members so that forward movement of said other link memberwill cause forward movement of said one link member and upward swingingmovement of said leg rest member when said back member is reclined,whereby, after said leg rest member has been raised, sliding motionbetween said link members can occur when said back member returns to itsupright position to permit said leg rest member to remain in its raisedposition with respect to said seat member, means connected with said legrest member and said seat member for releasably supporting said leg restmember in its raised position after said back and seat members havereturned to their upright position, means selectively operable torelease said leg rest supporting means to permit said leg rest member toreturn to its inoperative position when said back member returns to itsupright position, and complemental latch means on said back member andsaid one link member engageable only when said leg rest member isadjacent its fully inoperative position to posi tively connect said onelinkmember with said back member so that movement of said back memberwill cause positive and corresponding movement of said one link memberto insure said leg rest being moved to its completely inoperativeposition when said back member moves to its completely upright positionafter said leg rest supporting means have been released' 7. A mechanismfor operating a leg support at the forward edge of a chair having a seatand back, including, in combination, elongated link means havingoverlapping slidable front and rear link members, said front link memberbeing connectible to the leg support and adapted to extend. toward therear of the chair, means retaining said link members in theiroverlapping slidable relationship, an arm rigidly connectible to thechair back so as to extend downwardly therefrom, a link element, a pivotfor securing said link element and said arm together, said arm extendingbelow said pivot and rearwardly thereof, a second pivot connecting saidrcarwardly extending end of said arm to the rear of said rear linkmember, complemental abutment means on said link members engageable tocause said link members to move as a unit forwardly, whereby rearwardtilting movement of said arm will. cause said first pivot to moveforwardly and said second pivot to move forwardly therewith, as well. asrotation of the rearwardly extending portion of said arm about saidfirst pivot so as to impart additional forward movement to said linkmeans and cause substantial and rapid movement of the leg support, andwhereby forward tilting movement of said arm will cause rearwardmovement of said rear link member without imparting similar movement tosaid front link member, a support device connectible between the legsupport and the chair seat, including a member connectible to the seatand a link member connectible to the leg support and sli-dably supportedon the said member connectible to the seat, lock means operativelyinterconnected with said link member and said member which isconnectible to the seat for locking the link member against rearwardmovement on said member connectible to the seat when said link means hasbeen moved forwardly, said lock means being automatically releasableupon a predetermined forward movement of said link means to release saidsupporting device and permit said front link memher to move rearwardlywith said rear link member, and complemental latch members on said armand front link member engageable to cause said front and rear linkmembers to move rearwardly together after a predetermined rearwardmovement of said front link member relative to said rear link member.

8. in a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, a legrest member, mechanism between said body and each side of said members,including elon gated link means comprising a front link member and arear link member, means connecting said seat member, said front linkmember and said leg rest member so that fore and aft movement of saidfront link member will cause pivotal movement of said leg rest memberbetween an inoperative generally vertical position and a raisedgenerally horizontal position, said front link member extending towardthe rear of the seat, an arm rigidly connected to said seat back memberso as to extend downwardly therefrom, a link element, a pivot securingsaid link element and said arm together, said arm extending below saidpivot and rearwardly thereof, a second pivot connecting said rcarwardlyextending end of said arm to the rear of said rear link member, wherebythe rearward tilting movement of said seat back member and said armcauses said first pivot to move forwardly and said second pivot to moveforwardly therewith, as well as rotation of the rearwardly extendingportion of said arm about said first pivot, said mechanism alsoincluding parallelogram linkage supporting said seat on said body andconnected with said arm and link element so that rearward tiltingmovement of said seat back causes forward and upward movement of saidseat member, said front and rear link members being disposed in anoverlapping sliding relationship relative to each other, means forretaining said link members in said relationship, complemental abutmentmeans on said link members for causing said members to move together ina forward direction so that rotation of the rearwardly extending portionof said arm will impart forward movement to said link members and causesubstantial and rapid movement of the leg rest and so that after saidleg rest has been raised, return movement of said seat and back memberswill not impart a similar movement to said leg rest and will permit saidleg rest to remain in a raised position with respect to said seatmember, a rodlike member extending fore and aft of and connected withsaid seat memher, the rear portion of said rod being of a smallerdiameter than the forward portion thereof, a slide member disposed onsaid rod member, actuatable lock means carried by said slide member andnormally engaging said rodlike member to prevent rearward movement ofsaid slide member on said rodlike member after said lock means isdisposed forwardly of said rod reduced portion, a link member connectedwith said slide member and with said leg rest, means adjacent the frontof said rodlike member for engaging said lock means and actuating thesame to release said slide member to permit rearward sliding on saidrodlike member, a latch means on the rear portion of said front linkmember, a pin carried by said arm and cngageable with said latch meanswhen said seat back member is adjacent it upright position to returnsaid leg rest to its fully inoperative position.

9. in. a seat construction, a body, a seat member, a back member, a legrest member, mechanism between said body and each side of said members,including elongated link means comprising a front link member and a rearlink member, means interconnecting said seat member, said front linkmember and said leg rest member so that fore and aft movement of saidfront link member will cause pivotal movement of said leg rest memberbetween an inoperative generally vertical position and a raisedgenerally horizontal position, said front link member extending towardthe rear of said seat member, an arm rigidly connected to said sea-tback member so as to extend downwardly therefrom, a link element, apivot securing said link element and said arm together, said armextending below saidpivot and rearwardly thereof, a second pivotconnecting said rearwardly extending end of said arm to the rear of saidrear link member, whereby the rearward tilting movement of said seatback member and said arm causes said first pivot to move forwardly andsaid second pivot to move forwardly therewith, as well as rotation ofthe rearwardly extending portion of said arm about said first pivot,said mechanism also including parallelogram linkage supporting said seaton said body and connected with said arm and link element so thatrearward tilting movement of said seat back causes forward and upwardmovement of said seat member, said front and rear link members beingdisposed in an overlapping sliding relationship relative to each other,means for retaining said link members in said relationship, complementalabutments on said link members engageable to cause said members to movetogether in a forward direction so that rotation of the rearwardlyextending portion of said arm will impart forward movement to said linkmembers and cause substantial and rapid movement of the leg rest and sothat after said leg rest has been raised, return movement of said seatand back members will cause said link members to slide relative to eachother and move said abutments away from each other so as not to impart asimilar movement to said leg rest and so as to permit said leg rest toremain in a raised position relative to said seat member, and meansconnected with said leg rest 13 member and said seat member forreleasably supporting 2,541,938 said leg rest member in a raisedposition after said seat 2,578,311 and back members have moved to anupright position. 2,651,055 References Cited in the file of this patent5 2672919 UNITED STATES PATENTS 195,395 Pope Sept. 18, 1877 3,687

14 v Rideout Feb. 13, 1951 Lorenz Dec. 11, 1951 Billet et a1. Sept. 8,1953 Luekhardt Mar. 23, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 28, 1883

